Radiance McQueen
by Space-Gal 117
Summary: Radiance McQueen is Lightning McQueen's younger sister. She shows up in Radiator Springs, determined to mend the rift created by her parents in their desperate attempt to stop him... and her... from racing. *NOT humanized* *Radiance, the McQueen parents, and any other non-original characters belong to me, all other characters belong to the Cars franchise*
1. Chapter 1

Radiance McQueen sighed as she pressed the button to turn off the television. She should be pleased and proud, her brother Lightning had just won his fifth piston cup and was obviously successfully dating a Porsche named Sally Carrera, but Radiance wasn't happy. She hadn't spoken to her brother in almost five years, and highly doubted that he spoke of his family, even to his girlfriend. It was time to end this rift that was instigated by their parents in a moment of desperation. Radiance knew that their parents, Hans and Christina McQueen, hadn't meant to separate their children by their actions and that their concern had merely backfired in the worst possible manner. She knew that when Hans had learnt of Lightning's intent to race, he hadn't thought about the consequences of trying to prevent him from doing so. Radiance herself knew that Lightning had dreamed of racing ever since he was built, especially since she had shared the dream while growing up alongside him. Only two years older, Lightning had been Radiance's role model, as well as her protector and her best friend while growing up. Radiance missed him desperately, which would be why she was hiding within a cramped motel room one hundred and fifty miles from her destination: Radiator Springs. It was also why she had finally gone against her parents' wishes and had finally gone to seek out her long lost brother: Lightning McQueen, the famous race car.


	2. Chapter 2

***Author's Note: Forgive my attempt at Mater's accent. I tried.***

Lightning McQueen zipped out of his motel cone, quietly whistling and waiting for Mater to come racing up to drag him off on another adventure. He really didn't mind most of the time, although he did want to spend some one-on-one time with Sally at some point. He had just gotten home from another race just three days ago. He had gotten another piston cup, his fifth. While he loved to race, he understood that they were just empty cups and that his friends and fam.. no, his friends were more important. Lightning shook his head at the silent mistake, it was still a struggle for him to not include his family in his thoughts... Especially his sister, Radiance. Lightning sighed, he missed his sister.

"Why'ya sighin'?" Mater said from right behind him. Lightning jumped, he hadn't heard Mater behind him.

"Oh no reason." Lightning quickly said, earning himself a look from Mater for a second. The tow truck then immediately switched mental gears and began rocking back and forth excitedly.

"You're gonna love what we gonna do 'day!" Mater exclaimed, his buck tooth mouth splitting into a wide grin.

Lightning laughed while moving forward, and then a flash of red caught his eye and he stopped suddenly. His sister was red like him. The flash only lasted a second longer and than vanished. Lightning shook his head, he was seeing things or something. There was no way his sister was in Radiator Springs, absolutely no way.

Radiance drove through Radiator Springs, admiring the small town. She didn't see any of the locals, and was hoping to avoid some of them if possible, as she looked like a smaller version of Lightning. She didn't want to be mistaken for him or for one of his crazy fans who had themselves painted like him. The only difference between them would be the stickers Lightning had. Radiance lacked the racing stickers, except she did have a small one saying "95", Lightning's number. Their parents had disapproved of her getting the supportive sticker, but she had remained firm in keeping it. Like Lightning, Radiance had gotten headlights and a horn, deciding that they were practical. The headlights were especially useful in the trip to Radiator Springs.

"Lightning! Lightning, where are you going?" A female voice suddenly came from Radiance's right. Radiance froze, she should've known that she wouldn't have gone unseen by at least one of the locals.

"I'm... I'm not Lightning. Sorry." Radiance said, turning around to face a blue Porsche. Radiance recognized her from her picture on television, Sally Carrera. Her likely-to-be sister-in-law.

"Oh. I'm sorry. You look a lot like him from the back." Sally said, her eyes immediately going downcast, indicating her embarrassment at confusing a complete, female, stranger with her boyfriend.

"It's okay. You were close." Radiance said without thinking.

"What do you mean?" Sally said, her eyes immediately curious. Ra

"I... I... uh..." Radiance stumbled. She then decided to just go for the truth, "Well, my name is Radiance. Radiance McQueen. I'm Lightning's little sister."


	3. Chapter 3

Sally stared at the young red stranger before her. Lightning's sister? She didn't even know if Lightning _had_ a sister; Sally had tried to gain information on Lightning's family, but every time she tried all she got was a stubborn "no comment" in response. She assumed something had happened either to his family or between him and his family, but hadn't pressed the issue when she realized how much it bothered Lightning when the topic of family came up. Sally realized that Lightning had never considered his family coming here as she stared at the red female race car.

"You do look... remarkably like Lightning..." Sally finally murmured as she studied the young car. Radiance, if that was really her name, shared the same race car lines, the same rear spoiler, and, Sally looked her directly in the face, the same blue eyes with the hints of silver that Sally had gotten to know so well. Sally had to bit back a gasp at the sight of Lightning's eyes staring back at her from the face of a stranger, who looked both familiar and not familiar to her.

"What?" Radiance McQueen said. "You're staring at me like you've seen a ghost or something..."

"I... I just... Lightning and you... You have the same eyes. Blue with a tint of silver." Sally said, her voice wavering slightly.

"Yeah. We've been told that before." Radiance said, a small ghost of a smile came to her lips. She then frowned and looked at the ground while her wheel restlessly scuffed up some dirt. "Based on your reaction, I assume Lightning never mentioned that he had a sister?"

"No." Sally said. She saw the sad and pained expression go across Radiance's face. "I'm sorry. He doesn't seem to like to talk about his childhood all that much. I... I just never pressed him. Thought that if he was ready to talk about it then he would."

"Yeah, yeah. I understand. Besides Lightning's so stubborn... Well, he just won't talk about things until he is ready to talk." Radiance explained, trying and failing to keep lightness in her voice. She had hoped that the situation would be better, that Lightning had at least mentioned the fact that he had a little sister to his friends. But apparently not. Apparently Lightning just wanted to forget about his family, about her. Well, that was going to change, Radiance thought. Her brother was in for a very rude awakening if he thought he could just walk away from her.


	4. Chapter 4

*Author's Note: sorry everyone! I got super busy with school and things got away from me. Luckily the semester is almost over so I should be able to post more often. If I haven't posted in awhile then please do submit a review reminding me to get back to the story!

 **Bold is childhood memory.**

...

Sally watched in surprise as Lightning's little sister suddenly smiled, a slightly mischievous little grin that reminded Sally of Lightning when he was thinking about a likely adventure. She had a feeling that Lightning's little sister was getting an idea that would either make Lightning laugh or swear to never see his little sister again.

...

Lightning watched in exasperation as Mater crept along the ravine, obviously in full denial that his idea was stupid, and also slightly dangerous. Yes, Mater was his best friend, but there was no way Lightning was going to participate in _this_ harebrained scheme of Mater'. Absolutely no way, considering Lightning _hated_ heights, not that he would tell Mater, or anyone else, that information. The only person who knew that about that particular hatred was his little sister, Radiance, whom he highly doubted even thought about him anymore. His parents probably took care of any affection Radiance had left for him, Lightning thought sadly. He loved his little sister, but his love for racing had likely caused a gap between their parents and him that was wider than Radiance could cross. Lightning smiled slightly, however, as a childhood memory came to mind.

 **Radiance giggled as Lightning sped by her and then said, "Lightning! Wait up! I'm not as fast as you are!"**

 **Lightning continued to race further in front of his little sister while he laughed also. "Yeah. So?" He said, glancing behind him, careful to keep a little distance between them, but not much. He didn't want to risk losing Radiance and scaring her.**

 **"Well... Well, I'll catch up. I will be just as fast as you are, Lightning McQueen! Or even faster!" Radiance yelled, making her brother laugh.**

 **"LIGHTNING AND RADIANCE MCQUEEN! YOU BOTH COME HERE THIS INSTANT!" The sibling's mother cried, obviously finally spotting them racing at high speeds. Lightning groaned. Now they had done it, reawakened their mother's fear of racing only a few days after she had agreed to stop complaining about her children's love for racing. Lightning, however, slowed down considerably and then turned towards their mother, who was waiting impatiently. Radiance copied her brother, although she alone looked guilty while Lightning looked defiant.**

 **"Yes mama?" Radiance said, driving slowly towards their mother with Lightning trailing slowly behind her.**

 **"WHAT have I told YOU BOTH about racing? It's dangerous! And you, Lightning, for letting your little sister participate in such a dangerous sport! You should be** ** _ashamed_** **of yourself." Their mother, Christina, said in a slightly more high-pitched manner than usual.**

Lightning suddenly shook his head. There was no point in dwelling on the past. What was done was done, and he highly doubted that his family even thought about him these days. Radiance's love for racing was likely dragged out of her by their parents, even as Lightning's love for racing had been amplified by their insistence on stopping. Lightning sighed. There was no point in even thinking about such matters.


End file.
